Last summer, in the Before Times when we could travel, my mother and I spent a week in Europe, our first trip abroad together. We went to London, my absolute favorite city, and Cambridge, but before that, we went to Paris. When beginning to plan a trip, my mom selected Paris, a city she had always wanted to visit. I had been to Paris twice before, the first time for a long weekend while studying in London and again for a whirlwind day trip when visiting London again, but I couldn’t say no to another Paris trip. I still had so many things to do and see there (and honestly still have a long list) so it was a wonderful time to go back, this time with warm weather and summer in the city.
I had brought both my digital and film cameras on this trip, wanting to experiment with film while being used to traveling with a DSLR. I lugged my bulky digital one around almost everywhere in Paris, but I ended up leaving it behind almost all of the time in London. Instead, I stuck to my film for an emphasis on film throughout the trip, enjoying the more intentional process and lighter bag. Almost every shot in this post, however, is film (Portra 400), because I was so pleased with the results of my first time traveling with film. (I also haven’t edited all of the digital photos - the perks of film!)
After landing in Paris and making our way to our hotel, we headed out right away to get started and try to beat the jet lag. Our first stop was the Palais Garnier, a beautiful opera house that was also the setting of The Phantom of the Opera. I really love old theaters and other spaces for the arts, but the Palais Garnier really takes the top spot where opulence is concerned. My film photos turned out pretty dark, but the moody look actually isn’t too bad!
After visiting the Palais Garnier, we ventured up to Montmartre for the afternoon, climbing up the hilly streets and ultimately ending up at Sacré-Cœur, overlooking the city. We ended the day with the quintessential Eiffel Tower viewings, starting at the Place du Trocadéro and then criss-crossed a few bridges and wandered along the river for various Eiffel Tower and city views. This also included a stop at the Pont de Bir-Hakeim (I have to share this Parks and Rec scene again, because it really describes me).
For the second day, we started bright and early with our first museum of the trip: the Louvre. I had spent hours there on my first trip, but my mom had to see it too, of course, and I certainly couldn’t resist the chance to visit again. I could have spent the whole day there if we had more time, but it was wonderful to walk all over the Louvre again (this time having to figure out confusing routes and new locations due to renovations in an already sprawling space), almost like it was my first time there. We were lucky to find it not terribly crowded, considering it was such a touristy time, but it felt similar to my February trip three years before, and we had some rooms to ourselves.
After hours in the Louvre, we headed out for lunch and walked just a bit down the Seine to Île de la Cité to go inside Sainte-Chapelle and visit, from afar, Notre-Dame. The fire had been just a few months before our visit, so we were sadly unable to go inside or see it in its glory, without barriers and scaffolding.
We wandered around the narrow streets and then crossed over to Île Saint-Louis, where we got ice cream at Berthillon (worth the hype). We walked back along the river and stopped at Shakespeare & Company and Odette before getting dinner nearby. Thanks to the late sunsets in the middle of the summer, we were able to get over to the Arc de Triomphe for sunset. While these sort of places (specifically observation decks) can be touristy, I do love a way to see a city from above: to see the way the city spreads out, the rooftops, small streets below, tiny people moving along. In the case of Paris, the Arc de Triomphe provides the perfect opportunity to see the city’s layout, the wide avenues radiating away from it. We watched the sky go from blue to pink to dark, dark blue, the Eiffel Tower sparkling across the river.
For day three, we hopped on an early train out of the city to Giverny, to visit Monet’s home and gardens. It was really wonderful to see the spots he painted in such well-known paintings, and the house and gardens are lovely on a warm summer morning.
Once we got back to Paris, we went to the Musée de l'Orangerie, home to eight of Monet’s Water Lilies paintings, to see some of his work painted in his gardens right after visiting. Yes, this is the third time I’ve been to this museum, but I still adore it. It wasn’t crowded, so it was very peaceful and quiet.
One gelato later on this very hot afternoon, we walked through the Jardin des Tuileries and stopped for photos and some shade in the Palais Royal. The rest of the afternoon and evening were low-key: walking around, getting dinner, and getting back to our hotel at a slightly earlier time in preparation for leaving the next day.
Our train to London was scheduled for late morning, so we had time for breakfast and a trip for pastries and macarons (pastries = the most important thing to me and my mom) before leaving our hotel for Gare du Nord on a very hot day. Next stop, London. Au revoir, Paris; I look forward to returning to France to explore other areas of the country.
